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October 24, 2009

Yes, the Wheelchair Foundation is wheelchair accessible

I am responding to critical comments posted on my earlier post, "How a respected local foundation might be sending a mixed message."

I knew the Wheelchair Foundation had to be accessible because I have been to events at the Blackhawk Museum, right next door, attended by people in wheechairs. Yes, I was going for a cheap laugh at the expense of a well-regarded nonprofit that does good work. So, I am sorry about that. I will do better next time.

However, the photographer would not have needed to crop the photo to get this image of the stairs in front of the building, with the sign, Wheelchair Foundation, posted prominently. The image is perhaps ironic, and perhaps makes the Foundation a target for a cheap laugh from low-life bloggers like Failblog.com, or CrazyinSuburbia. But, yes, the image implying that the Foundation is insensitive to the very people it serves is misleading.

In response to comments, I revisted Blackhawk Plaza this morning. And when you mount the stairs to the upper plaza, leading to the Foundation and the Museum, this is what you see. The ramps are not immediately visible.

A ramp leading from the lower part of the shopping center to the upper plaza comes up to the left. Someone in a wheelchair would need to cross this upper plaza, then go up a ramp that winds up the front of the Museum. Someone in a wheelchair could also access the Museum and the Foundation via a small upper-level parking lot to the right of the Museum.